1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a monomolecular carbon-based film and an electrical shield incorporating such film for enhancing power transmission over an electrical power line and eliminating corona discharge.
2. The Related Technology
Electrical power lines are used to transmit electricity from power plants to Grid substations, then to homes, factories and other end users and are found all over the world. Power lines are transmission cables made up of a precisely set of woven wires. Current flows over and through the skin of each of the woven wires that form the cable. Because current typically flows over transmission cables that are without insulation, a major problem is corona discharge, which is composed of an electromagnetic field of electrons. When a corona is fully crested the dam of electrons cracks, resulting in a loss of voltage and release of electrons to the atmosphere. To compensate for voltage and current losses, power must be regenerated and/or boosted about every fifty miles between Grid substations to recharge current. Up to 60% of the average power plant production of energy is lost to corona discharge, as reported in Washington D.C. by a Dr. Clayton Teague, Director National Nanotechnology Coordination and Office of Nano scale Science, Engineering, and Technology. Dr. Teague explained there is an acute need to replace a portion of such power losses with nuclear power stations. However, to replace even 1% of such power loss would require two nuclear power plants at a cost over $30B, with huge political resistance.
In view of the foregoing, there is a long-felt but unsatisfied need to provide a more efficient method of transporting electrical power over power transmission lines, to which no substance including rubber has ever successfully been found to reliably insulate electrical current energy over transmission lines without melting the cable due to electron friction and associated heat build-up.